''A'' is the 13th studio album by British
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Jethro Tull. It was released on 29 August 1980 in the UK and 1 September of the same year in the United States.
The album was initially written and recorded with the intention of being frontman
Ian Anderson
Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...
's debut solo album (hence the album's title: the master tapes were marked "A" for Anderson during recording), however the album was eventually released as a Jethro Tull album after pressure from
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...
. Anderson has since stated that he regrets allowing the album to be released under the Jethro Tull name.
Musically, the album was a departure from prior Tull works, adopting more of an
electronic rock
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...
sound with heavy use of
synthesizers
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
, although still retaining the band's trademark folk influence and Anderson's flute playing. Lyrically, the album saw a similar departure from the fantasy and folklore themes of previous Tull work, instead emphasizing contemporary matters such as the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. The album was the first Tull album released following a large lineup change which saw drummer
Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow and keyboardists
John Evan
John Evan (born John Spencer Evans; born 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire.) is a British musician and composer. He is best known for having played keyboards for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. Evans' father was headmaster at a De ...
and
Dee Palmer
Dee Palmer (formerly David Palmer; born 2 July 1937) is an English composer, arranger, and keyboardist best known for having been a member of the progressive rock group Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull from 1976 to 1980 (although she had worked wi ...
departing the band in 1980 while bassist
John Glascock
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
had died from heart complications the previous year. The album instead features Glascock's touring replacement
Dave Pegg
Dave Pegg (born 2 November 1947) is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk ...
on bass in his first recorded appearance with the band,
Mark Craney
Mark Craney (August 26, 1952 – November 26, 2005) was an American rock and jazz drummer.
Biography
Craney grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His father had played the drums and was a big influence on his musical career. Craney initially p ...
on drums and
Eddie Jobson
Edwin "Eddie" Jobson (born 28 April 1955) is an English musician noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K. and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zap ...
on keyboards (with Jobson credited as a "special guest") and electric violin.
Overview
''A'' was recorded as an intended
Ian Anderson
Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...
solo album before Tull's record label,
Chrysalis
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
, asked that it become credited to the group. This is the reason for the album's title, as the tapes were marked "A" for "Anderson". It is noted for its more synthesiser-based sound, a fact which created controversy among many of the band's fans. On the other hand, it features a folk-influenced piece, "The Pine Marten's Jig".
''A'' features a dramatically different line-up of Tull from the band's previous album, ''
Stormwatch'' (1979). Former keyboardist
John Evan
John Evan (born John Spencer Evans; born 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire.) is a British musician and composer. He is best known for having played keyboards for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. Evans' father was headmaster at a De ...
and organist
Dee Palmer
Dee Palmer (formerly David Palmer; born 2 July 1937) is an English composer, arranger, and keyboardist best known for having been a member of the progressive rock group Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull from 1976 to 1980 (although she had worked wi ...
were fired from the group, while drummer
Barriemore Barlow
Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow (born 10 September 1949, Birmingham) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and percussionist for the rock band Jethro Tull, from May 1971 to June 1980.
Christened Barrie, 'Barriemore' was an affectation ...
left the band due to depression over the death of
John Glascock
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
as well as plans to start his own band.
The only members of Tull to appear on both ''Stormwatch'' (1979) and ''A'' (1980) are Ian Anderson and
Martin Barre
Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...
. This is also bassist
Dave Pegg
Dave Pegg (born 2 November 1947) is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk ...
's first appearance on a Tull studio recording, but he had become a member of the band during the ''Stormwatch'' tour in 1979, replacing the deceased Glascock. Conflicting reasons have been given for the line-up change. Anderson has stated that he wanted to take the band in a different direction from the folk rock and progressive rock of the 1970s.
Barriemore Barlow was unhappy with the direction the band was taking and later stated that he would have left anyway. However, biographer David Rees reports in his book ''
Minstrels in the Gallery: A History of Jethro Tull'' (2001) that Anderson had never intended to replace Jethro Tull's previous line-up with the musicians who recorded ''A'', but was forced by Chrysalis Records, which had decided to release his 'solo' album under the name Jethro Tull.
This claim was further evidenced by Anderson's note in the 2003 re-release of the album.
A 40th anniversary box set was released in April 2021, featuring the album remixed by
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosio ...
. It includes some bonus tracks, a DVD of
''Slipstream'', and audio of a concert in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
Track listing
*The 2004 remastered two-disc edition includes ''
Slipstream
A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term slip ...
'' as a bonus DVD.
''2021 40th Anniversary A La Mode Edition''
Personnel
Jethro Tull
*
Ian Anderson
Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...
– vocals, flute
*
Martin Barre
Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...
– guitar
*
Dave Pegg
Dave Pegg (born 2 November 1947) is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk ...
– bass guitar,
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
*
Mark Craney
Mark Craney (August 26, 1952 – November 26, 2005) was an American rock and jazz drummer.
Biography
Craney grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His father had played the drums and was a big influence on his musical career. Craney initially p ...
– drums
Additional personnel
*
Eddie Jobson
Edwin "Eddie" Jobson (born 28 April 1955) is an English musician noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K. and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zap ...
– keyboards,
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
, electric violin on ''The Pine Marten's Jig''
technical staff
* Robin Black – sound engineer
* John Shaw – photography
* Peter Wagg – art direction
Charts
References
External links
*
* (Bonus DVD)
{{DEFAULTSORT:A (Jethro Tull Album)
Jethro Tull (band) albums
1980 albums
Chrysalis Records albums
Island Records albums
Albums produced by Ian Anderson